No vintage is all bad or all good. Even in the current cool, wet, mildew-riddled season endured by Canberra vignerons, bright spots and hope remain among the devastation, albeit with an anxious eye on the weather. After a decade-long run of hot, early vintages, Canberra looks distinctly cool climate in 2011, with harvest times likely … Continue reading Canberra vintage begins with an anxious eye on the sky
Jacob’s Creek St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $33–$50 Coonawarra, South Australia Cabernet sauvignon has been called the king of grapes; but never the queen. Anthropomorphically speaking, it’s a commanding, manly variety, personified by St Hugo – a solid, square-jawed, broad-shouldered, unapologetic Don Draper of a red, bristling with five-o’clock-shadow tannins. Like Draper, though, it charms … Continue reading Wine review — St Hugo, Grossett, McWilliams Mount Pleasant, Chapel Hill, Quinta das Stencostas and Bremerton
Grosset Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2009 $66 Chardonnay 2009 $53 Jeffrey Grosset is best known as a producer of pristine Clare Valley rieslings – wines made protectively to display fruit, fruit and nothing but fruit. This mastery of riesling making shows, too, in the intensity and varietal purity of his pinot noir and chardonnay – … Continue reading Wine review — Grosset, Bleasdale and Tower Estate
Overproduction, slash-and-burn retailing and our strong dollar should keep a lid firmly on mainstream wine prices throughout 2011. Adding to that chaotic mix are rising volumes of clean skins and labels owned or controlled by retailers, a dollop of parallel importing and the less-obvious but increasingly important activities of online retailers, auctioneers and direct marketers. … Continue reading Wine — slash and burn, burrow and build in 2011
In December 2010 Philip Laffer handed the winemaking reins of Jacob’s Creek to Bernard Hickin. But Laffer, now 70, retains a globe-travelling role with Jacob’s Creek’s French owner, Pernod-Ricard, giving valuable advice to the company’s winemaking enterprises in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Spain and France. Laffer’s career spans, on a large scale, every imaginable aspect … Continue reading Philip Laffer — wine industry builder and expander
Bleasdale Langhorne Creek “Second Innings” Malbec 2009 $15 Cullen Margaret River Mangan Vineyard Malbec Petit Verdot Merlot 2009 $45 Malbec, Argentina’s signature red variety, barely hits the scale in Australia, account for just two thousand tonnes of our annual 900-thousand-tonne red harvest. But its attractive perfume and generous flavour shines in these two contrasting styles … Continue reading Wine review — Bleasdale, Cullen, Ten Minutes by Tractor and Chapel Hill
Bay of Fires Tasmania Pinot Noir $35 East Coast, Coal River Valley and Derwent Valley, Tasmania For a glimpse of Tasmania’s winemaking future, grab a bottle of this beautiful, silk-smooth, trophy-winning pinot before the price heads north. It’s part of Constellation Wine’s portfolio and made at their Bay of Fires Winery, Pipers River. Winemaker Fran … Continue reading Wine review — Bay of Fires, Howard Park, Vasse Felix, Shaw Vineyard Estate, Heartland and Shingleback
Brokenwood Belford Block 8 Semillon 2006 $36 Belford is a sub-set of the Lower Hunter Valley and the Block 8 vineyard lies “not far from the famous ‘Village of Belford’ sign (there isn’t a village)” writes winemaker PJ Charteris. The wine sits at the very delicate end of the Hunter semillon spectrum – still pale … Continue reading Wine review — Brokenwood, Zonte’s Footstep and Jim Barry
Dal Zotto Pucino Prosecco NV $18.50 King Valley Victoria Prosecco’s Italian home is the Valdobbiadene district, near Conegliano in the Veneto region. The variety makes light, delicate aperitif-style sparkling wines, usually tank fermented (Charmat method) and served as young and fresh as possible. Otto Dal Zotto, born in Valdobbiadene, released his first Australian prosecco in … Continue reading Wine review — Dal Zotto, Brokenwood, Zonte’s Footstep, Cape Mentelle, d’Arenberg and Punt Road
McHenry Hohnen Rolling Stone Margaret River 2008 $36.85 Grant Burge Corryton Park Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $34.95 These are two sensational but utterly contrasting cabernet blends from individual vineyards in the Barossa and Margaret River. The limpid, medium-bodied McHenry Hohnen wine comprises one quarter each of malbec, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot. This is … Continue reading Wine review — McHenry Hohnen, Grant Burge, Bleasdale, Rolf Binder and Knappstein